HOW TO KNOW THE GRASSES 



KEY TO GRASSES, SEDGES AND RUSHES 



la. Flowers with stiif, greenish or brownish, six-parted perianth (calyx 

 and corolla); stamens 6 or 3; fruit a many-seeded capsule; leaves 



usually wiry and round in cross section 



RUSH FAMILY (JUNCACEAE) 



lb. Flowers without evident calyx or corolla, gathered into short scaly 

 clusters (spikelets); stamens 3; fruit with a single seed 2 



2a. Leaves in 2 vertical rows or ranks; leaf sheaths usually split, with 

 overlapping edges; stems usually round in cross section and hol- 

 low between the joints; each flower of the spikelet contained be- 

 tween 2 bracts, the lemma and the palea 



GRASS FAMILY (GRAMINEAE) 



2b. Leaves in 3 vertical rows or ranks; leaf sheaths tubular, not split; 

 stems often triangular in cross section and solid between joints; 

 each flower of the spikelet in the axil of a single bract, the glume 

 SEDGE FAMILY (CYPERACEAE) 



DIFFERENCES AMONG GRASSES, SEDGES, AND RUSHES 



.GRASS SEDGE RUSH 



STEM AND LEAF ITU ^^jj^!^ ^3r 



W T 



LEAF SHEATH 



FLORET OR 



FLOWER 



Figure 1 

 2 



